Lexar Media Press Release 27/09/04

Lexar Revolutionizes Professional Digital Photography Workflow with New ActiveMemory System

COLOGNE, Germany, September 27, 2004 - Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEXR), a leading marketer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media and accessories, today at Photokina (Hall 1.2, Booth-058) introduced the ActiveMemory TM System, a technology designed to optimize digital photography workflow to achieve enhanced productivity in and out of the photo studio. The first products to support the ActiveMemory System are certain Professional CompactFlash TM cards, new Lexar Professional FireWire and USB 2.0 card readers, and Photo Mechanic TM 4.5 professional image browsing software.

At the center of the ActiveMemory System are ActiveMemory-enabled Professional CompactFlash cards that can store user preferences and host device settings in a protected area on the card. These settings can only be modified by the host application that created them and can be used to auto-configure multiple ActiveMemory-enabled products within the system. These settings are preserved even when the card is formatted or other data files on the card are deleted, because the ActiveMemory data is stored outside the standard DOS file structure on the card.

?Imagine a card that contains its owner?s name and image preferences,? said John Omvik, director of professional product marketing, Lexar. ?Images downloaded from the card can be automatically appended with the photographer?s copyright information, search keywords and caption information. In the future, photographers can also have confidence knowing that the camera is configured the way they expect, because their preferred settings are automatically loaded when the card is inserted in an ActiveMemory-enabled camera.?

While many cameras and software applications already allow users to save favorite settings, storing this information on a memory card is unique because it allows for the immediate transfer of established information and improves multi-user or multi-device working environments.

ActiveMemory Software Applications

Photo Mechanic 4.5, an upcoming version of Photo Mechanic professional image browsing software, will feature ActiveMemory technology that allows users to store download preferences and IPTC captioning, including copyright information and database keywords. When an ActiveMemory-enabled card is inserted in the new Lexar Professional CompactFlash reader, Photo Mechanic automatically launches and begins to download the images on the card. During the download process the IPTC information is automatically appended to each image.

ActiveMemory will enable photographers to change the sequence of traditional workflow by eliminating redundant and repetitive manual tasks like captioning, adding search keywords and copyright information from the post-processing stage.

ActiveMemory Camera Applications

Digital cameras can also use the ActiveMemory technology to store user preferences and other camera-specific set-up parameters, such as CSM settings, on the card. This information can be used to quickly configure a camera to a known and trusted state, or for specific shooting conditions.

Today?s professional digital SLR cameras are feature-rich with multiple pages of menu and set-up options. While this provides professionals with maximum flexibility, it can also increase the possibility for user error. This is particularly true when cameras are shared among multiple photographers or with rental equipment. Users of ActiveMemory-enabled cameras will be able to plug in the card and be confident that the camera is ready to go the way they expect it.

?For professional photographers, there is nothing worse than losing a shot,? said Kevin Gilbert, professional photojournalist and president of Blue Pixel. ?But it is even more frustrating when it could have been avoided because the photographer or his editor was unaware that critical settings were changed on the camera. ActiveMemory-enabled cameras will give all photographers peace of mind, knowing that their preferred settings are stored on their cards and established on their camera. It will help us so much in the field.?

The Future of ActiveMemory

ActiveMemory technology will have other applications beyond professional digital photography. Any software or host application that uses flash memory and can benefit from automating or configuring tasks, based on reading software settings or user preferences that reside in a protected area on a memory card, could benefit from this technology.

ActiveMemory-enabled CompactFlash cards, card readers and Photo Mechanic 4.5, will be available in Q4 2004. For more information, specifications and a white paper, please visit www.lexar.com/activememory